A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to arrest former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, over alleged certificate forgery.
The court gave the ruling on Thursday following an ex parte motion filed by the ICPC in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1160/2026. The order allows the commission to declare Nnaji wanted in national newspapers, on social media platforms and other media for failing to honour its invitations for investigation.
The ICPC’s ex parte motion dated June 3 was filed on June 4, with an affidavit deposed by one David Nelson. Through its lawyer Osuobeni Akponimisingha, the commission told the court that the motion followed Nnaji’s refusal to honour invitations extended to him over allegations of certificate forgery. Akponimisingha prayed the court to issue a bench warrant directing ICPC operatives, other enforcement agents and private citizens to identify and arrest Nnaji and hand him over for investigation. The court granted all the orders sought.
The development follows a two-year investigation published by Premium Times in October 2025 which revealed that Mr Nnaji forged his University of Nigeria Nsukka degree certificate and NYSC discharge certificate. The certificates were reportedly submitted to President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian Senate during his ministerial confirmation in 2023. Nnaji resigned as minister following the allegations.
Court documents showed that the former minister is being investigated for alleged forgery, abuse of office and conferment of unfair advantage while serving as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The ICPC is expected to arraign him upon arrest over the alleged offences. The court further ruled that the arrest order would lapse only upon Nnaji’s arrest.
Nnaji was appointed minister by President Bola Tinubu in August 2023. He recently emerged as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for Enugu State ahead of the 2027 elections, despite the ongoing investigation over the certificate forgery scandal.
